SYLVIE COURVOISIER/MARK FELDMAN/IKUE MORI/EVAN PARKER –
Miller's Tale
Intakt Records Intakt CD270
Sylvie Courvoisier: Piano; Mark Feldman: violin; Ikue Mori: electronics; Evan Parker: soprano and tenor saxophone
Recorded Oktaven Audio, Yonkers, New York, September 21st, 2015.
The titles of the pieces nod to the location of the recording session – Yonkers. As you might remember from studying ‘Death of a Salesman’ at High School, this is where Willy Loman crashed his car. This leads to the pieces being titled in homage to Arthur Miller. So the titles either directly reference Death of a Salesman (the opening track) or lines from it ‘Riding on a smile and a shoeshine’, ‘Nothing’s planted’, or its key themes ‘A fountain pen’ (which Biff steals and sort of lets the family down) or ‘The American Dream’ (which Willy sees slipping away from him). In addition, pieces are named after other Miller plays (A view from a bridge, Up from paradise, Playing for time, The reason why – not all of which were commercial successes, which makes the selection of titles rather interesting; perhaps reflecting the challenge that free improvised music offers).
This is a set of improvisations, recorded by a quartet of prodigiously talented musicians. One gets the sense of the ‘without a safety net’ peril of walking into a studio and turning on the recording to capture everything that is played. To record like this requires a level of attention to fellow musicians and an ability to respond instantaneously to their suggestions that must be exhausting. Each player in the quartet has plenty of experience in working under such pressure and working against different types of instrument. What is especially striking here is the lack of an obvious rhythm section, so that timings that the players are working build from the ways in which they interact with each other. As she works the recording, splicing and reimagining of sounds from her laptop, Mori creates a network that traps the sounds of the other musicians. Feldman works richly melodic lines, often referencing but not replicating classical themes in his playing, and Courvoisier takes these with a rumbling, rambunctiousness as she forces the pieces into huge vistas. Across all of this, Parker does what he does best, which is simply to play in a heartfelt response to the opportunities offered by his fellow musicians.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Miller's Tale
Intakt Records Intakt CD270
Sylvie Courvoisier: Piano; Mark Feldman: violin; Ikue Mori: electronics; Evan Parker: soprano and tenor saxophone
Recorded Oktaven Audio, Yonkers, New York, September 21st, 2015.
The titles of the pieces nod to the location of the recording session – Yonkers. As you might remember from studying ‘Death of a Salesman’ at High School, this is where Willy Loman crashed his car. This leads to the pieces being titled in homage to Arthur Miller. So the titles either directly reference Death of a Salesman (the opening track) or lines from it ‘Riding on a smile and a shoeshine’, ‘Nothing’s planted’, or its key themes ‘A fountain pen’ (which Biff steals and sort of lets the family down) or ‘The American Dream’ (which Willy sees slipping away from him). In addition, pieces are named after other Miller plays (A view from a bridge, Up from paradise, Playing for time, The reason why – not all of which were commercial successes, which makes the selection of titles rather interesting; perhaps reflecting the challenge that free improvised music offers).
This is a set of improvisations, recorded by a quartet of prodigiously talented musicians. One gets the sense of the ‘without a safety net’ peril of walking into a studio and turning on the recording to capture everything that is played. To record like this requires a level of attention to fellow musicians and an ability to respond instantaneously to their suggestions that must be exhausting. Each player in the quartet has plenty of experience in working under such pressure and working against different types of instrument. What is especially striking here is the lack of an obvious rhythm section, so that timings that the players are working build from the ways in which they interact with each other. As she works the recording, splicing and reimagining of sounds from her laptop, Mori creates a network that traps the sounds of the other musicians. Feldman works richly melodic lines, often referencing but not replicating classical themes in his playing, and Courvoisier takes these with a rumbling, rambunctiousness as she forces the pieces into huge vistas. Across all of this, Parker does what he does best, which is simply to play in a heartfelt response to the opportunities offered by his fellow musicians.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
